Day cruises add short Bahamas stay

Port Lucaya Resort & Yacht Club is one of the choices for Bahamas lodging.

Port Lucaya Resort & Yacht Club is one of the choices for Bahamas lodging. (Photo copyright Port Lucaya Marina)

Toni StroudTribune staff reporter

Two passenger ferries operate daily round-trip service between Ft. Lauderdale and Grand Bahama Island. Both also offer vacation packages that combine a ferry cruise with a stay at a choice of several hotels on Grand Bahama. One is with Discovery Cruise Lines. The other is with Bahamas Florida Express. We checked rates with both lines for a three-night cruise/hotel package trip over Mother's Day weekend, May 7-10.

Each company's package saves money over what you'd pay if you purchased the inclusions separately. Each company offers the same hotel choices--we went with the nice, yet affordable Port Lucaya Resort, though higher-priced lodgings at the boutique-y Pelican Bay, the upscale Sheraton and Westin, and the luxury Old Bahama Bay are possibilities. And each company will take you to Grand Bahama. The difference is how.

The Discovery Cruise Lines' 1,210-passenger vessel does double duty as a cargo ferry, but offers comforts commonly found on cruise ships: buffet meals, live entertainment, two casinos, a swimming pool and, for passengers willing to pay extra, even private cabins. It was built in 1968, renovated in 1995 and updated in 2000. It's no competition for the QE2, but passage price includes buffet breakfast and buffet lunch outbound to Grand Bahama and dinner inbound to Ft. Lauderdale. The five-hour cruise leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 7:45 a.m. and arrives Grand Bahama at 1 p.m.. Return passage departs Grand Bahama at 4:45 p.m. and gets back to Ft. Lauderdale at 10 p.m.

Bahamas Florida Express' 900-passenger "The Cat" is a high-speed catamaran with a casino, movies and pay-as-you-go drinks and snacks. There's no time for more than that because the craft takes only two hours to make the passage. It leaves Ft. Lauderdale at 4 p.m. and arrives Grand Bahama at 6 p.m. Return passage departs Grand Bahama at 10 a.m. and gets back to Ft. Lauderdale at noon.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Discovery Cruise Lines takes longer to get to Grand Bahama, but its schedule also gives you more time there. And its package is $199 less than its competitor's. Bahamas Florida Express is for travelers with tighter schedules or a fascination with new, high-speed boats--and an extra $199 to finance them.